Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Well, This is Disturbing

Remember hearing, years ago now, that Los Alamos was suffering from "accounting problems" with its plutonium? Well, evidently those problems still lack a solution.

From the SFGate:

Enough plutonium to make dozens of nuclear bombs hasn't been accounted for at the UC-run Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and may be missing, an activist group says in a new report.

There is no evidence that the weapons-grade plutonium has been stolen or diverted for illegal purposes, the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research said. However, the amount of unaccounted-for plutonium -- more than 600 pounds, and possibly several times that -- is so great that it raises "a vast security issue," the group said in a report to be made public today.

(snip)

UC spokesman Chris Harrington said Los Alamos "does an annual inventory of special nuclear materials which is overseen by (the Energy Department). These inventories have been occurring for 20-plus years. Special nuclear materials are carefully tracked to a minute quantity."

The report concludes that at least 661 pounds of plutonium generated at the lab over the last half-century is not accounted for. The atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 contained about 13 pounds of plutonium.

"The security implications . . . are extremely serious, since less than 2 percent of the lowest unaccounted-for plutonium is enough to make one nuclear bomb," the report said.

How comforting to know that such progress has been made. If this stuff is tracked "to a minute quantity", one has to wonder how 661 pounds is defined, exactly. Does this not fall well OUTSIDE "minute"?!? When I think of such small quantities, typically decimals are involved. I mean, that's a little more than a bookkeeping error, don't you think? It's not like rounding 0.6 to 1.00 because some bean counter forgot to format his spreadsheet properly. Now that I'd be willing to call "minute".

Even still, I'm no chemist, but I'm working on the assumption that even tiny amounts of plutonium (for fucksake!) are dangerous, and that it would be sloppy, at best, to "lose" say, just an ounce or so. But 661 POUNDS?!?!

I expect the story (should it actually gain any real traction in the press) will eventually be explained away by some Los Alamos rep saying, effectively, "Heh. Found it. Sorry... Never mind", but even if such a benign tale were true, that's a rather cold comfort, don't you think?

Abhorrent moral implications of nuclear weaponry aside, you'd think the very LEAST these guys could do is keep track of their materials.

Many years ago, while working for Wells Fargo, I spent the better part of a day tracking down $.06.

Yep, six measly cents.

Since the pennies involved were the net result of several million dollars representing several dozen transactions, it had the potential to be quite a pain in the ass. When I was ready to climb the walls after nearly 5 hours into the process, two other people got involved. We did finally find it, but we sure as hell weren't going to leave for the day until we did. And that was just $.06. Easy to write off with relative impunity, but it was the principle of the thing. When you balance out at closing, your totals should be zero. Everything accounted for. Every last penny. To miss such a basic benchmark would be shoddy work, and simply beneath us, to say nothing of required.

Are we now to believe that NUCLEAR WEAPONS MANUFACTURERS don't hold themselves to the same standards? One could reasonably argue that the accounting protocol for plutonium be just a tad stricter than the mundane rules of municipal bond processing. Then again, maybe I'm being a hard ass.

Maybe the staff at Wells Fargo should trade jobs with the boys at Los Alamos. I can at least vouch for the unyielding regulations of the former.

4 comments:

Cantankerous Bitch said...

Yeah, that's a fair point. Just another spoonful of cold comfort, though. Yikes.

Cantankerous Bitch said...

RM,
In case MB doesn't have a chance to sidle by here again for a little bit, here's the link to his energy policy piece, his user page at Kos and his user page at The Next Hurrah. Hope this helps.

I recall the "trucking" discussions, as well as how quickly they dropped out of the national press. Not that we need another reason to be pissed at the MSM, but in light of their total neglect of the issue, it's easy to understand what breeds the apathy you speak of.
Did you catch "Last Best Chance"? I was pleased to see that some actual funding was being put into the subject and it's airing on HBO, but again, saddened by what appears to be little national attention, still.

Lily said...

Well, people also have a poor appetite for what is unpleasant and what they feel helpless to do anything about. Some people mean well but find futility in knowledge. Its all a racket anyway, its all corrupt, its all the same bullshit, they all do the same things... why care? The truth hurts.
We are cut off from many realities, the nuclear threat being one. Famine. Genocide..(Check out Helen Caldicott's interviews if you ever feel the urge to sit speechless and sick)
The media is a business to 'entertain',yes, but journalists also have professional roles. A doctor might make money but we would not like to know that to be his/her bottom line. Journalistic integrity is gone, but so are 'real' journalists. Sorry but Geraldo is not real reporting.
Also, once I commented that we have a near-state run media. Near, meaning that we have media monopolies and radio monopolies that leave little room for dissent and there is little doubt that they serve W and his ilk. Ever see O'Reilly's talking points? Its like a comedy. Check out Amy Goodman's documentary on media reporting on war- great stuff. She asks the question about what would be different if we DID have state run media?

Cantankerous Bitch said...

Sure, people watch PBS & listen to NPR -- the same people that typically seek out this kind of news to begin with. The folks that most need to know (for instance, Republicans) often do not. And that's pretty much the problem in a nutshell, wouldn't you say?